Huawei shipped 54.2 million units in the second quarter of 2018, subsequently giving it a record-high global market share of 15.8%.

Currently leading the massive China smartphone market with a record-high market share of 27% in the second quarter of 2018, its P20/P20 Pro series shone through in the $600-$800 price segment, “helping Huawei build a high profile in the market”.

Screenshot Credit: IDC

On the flipside, Samsung still topped the list at 71.5 million units, in spite of a 10.4% decline in shipments from last year.

The South Korean behemoth cited its poorer performance to “both intensified competition at the high end and an overall sluggish smartphone market”.

For the first time, Apple has gotten the bronze medal despite growth in the second quarter. It shipped 41.3 million iPhones, a growth of 0.7% over the figure shipped last year.

Screenshot Credit: IDC

Said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, “The continued growth of Huawei is impressive, to say the least, as is its ability to move into markets where, until recently, the brand was largely unknown.”

“It is worth noting that Apple moved into the top position each of the last two holiday quarters following its product refresh, so it’s likely we’ll see continued movement among the top ranked companies in 2018 and beyond.”

For most markets, the ultra-high end ($700+) competition is largely some combination of Apple, Samsung, and Huawei, depending on the geography, and this is unlikely to change much in the short term.

In the second quarter of 2018, 342.0 million units were shipped by smartphone vendors.

This is a 1.8% decline from the figures in the second quarter of 2017, where units shipped stood at 348.2 million.

This is also the third consecutive quarter of year-on-year declines for smartphones, something IDC believes is the “result of churn in some highly penetrated markets”.

“To contest this slowdown, vendors will need to focus on new innovative features and form factors combined with incentives and promotions to drive growth in many of these highly competitive markets moving forward.”